There is nothing more fun than being dragged into the 21st Century by modern technology; and it reminds me of my favorite saying of the week, “I’d rather be stranded on an island with a gorilla.”

This replaces another favorite saying “I’d rather be buried in the sand up to my neck, and have fire ants dancing around my head.”

Nevertheless, despite my protests, I must confess being fascinated by the thrill of technology and learning something new, which I usually push myself and my staff to learn as much as possible.

But, being 40-years-old and pre-disposed to complaining (see other columns), I can’t help doing this without a few moans and groans.

Learning new technology is kind of like taking a ride on Valleyfair  you get an intense thrill and then feel like throwing up, I always say.

Anyway, taking this love/hate thing to a different level, I decided to open a Facebook account; being prodded into this a bit by fellow columnist Mr. Mark Ollig.

This is great because if I don’t like it, I can blame him for my troubles and make him buy me chocolate in compensation.

I set up my Facebook account, dubious to the end result and immediately found my best friend from college, my pastor, a former co-worker from South Dakota, former Herald columnist Denise Rosenau, and a bunch of other people that I know.

I sat astonished in front of my computer with these people writing friendly marks on my “WALL.” I actually look forward to checking my wall once a day.

I quizzed Mark on a few things  such as, how come it’s called a WALL? Why not a window or door? How come Mark has a status bar that reads “Mark’s progress,” on his Facebook account that shows him being only partway “there?” Why is that? And so on.

So I happily smarted off to Mark on his wall, joshing about German beer and all kinds of things; then suddenly remembered that the world can read your goofy comments and that you should probably keep them carefully, since goofy humor doesn’t always translate across the keyboard.

Mark wants me to read the manual thing on Facebook and this would frankly stink. I’d rather keep pushing buttons until something works right.

But, sigh. I suppose I shall have to do this over the weekend . . .but as I’m reading it I will think, “I’d rather be on an island . . .”

I will repeat the questiont: do you have interesting pictures of snow or ice formations? Or just something pretty? Please submit them to the newspaper at news@heraldjournal.com, and we’ll post them on the web.

Similarly, for those snow birds down south, do you have any “Ha ha, I am here in the sun and you are not,” pictures of a sunny location (with yourself in it)? Please send them along, too, and we will post them online.

Good for Jennifer Starke of Lester Prairie!

Speaking of my blog, I have asked for everyday acts of kindness to be reported there, since I think blogs in general are full of negative and un-constructive pieces of information.

I want to honor people each week for small and simple things. Prominent French Quaker and missionary Stephen Grellet once said “I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Lester Prairie Elementary Principal Pam Lukens suggested Jennifer Starke of Lester Prairie as someone who engages in simple acts of kindness and goes out of her way to help Lester Prairie Schools.

For example, Jennifer has volunteered to take charge of the Box Tops for Education at Lester Prairie Schools. Good for Jennifer! I am sure she is a busy person, but she is making a difference in her own way. I’m sure there are many other things Jennifer has done that are noteworthy. Keep up the good work.

Anyway, I would like to ask again for another person who engages in everyday acts of kindness  not the big stuff, mind you  but the small and meaningful stuff on a daily basis. They usually go undetected. They are usually modest people. But a little recognition reminds us all that we can be like them, too.